Previous edition published: Oxford : Blackwell, 2007.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The legal dimension: legal system and method -- John hodgson -- The ethical dimension: nursing practice, nursing philosophy and nursing ethics -- Alan cribb -- The professional dimension: professional regulation in nursing and midwifery -- Fiona culley -- The complaints dimension: patient and family complaints in healthcare -- Peter walsh -- The policy dimension: moving beyond the rhetoric towards a safer nhs -- John tingle -- The perspectives -- Negligence -- A the legal perspective -- Charles foster -- B an ethical perspective ¿ negligence and moral obligations -- Harry lesser -- Consent and the capable adult patient -- A the legal perspective -- Jean mchale -- B an ethical perspective ¿ consent and patient autonomy -- Bobbie farsides -- Responsibility, liability and scarce resources -- A the legal perspective -- Tracey elliot -- B an ethical perspective ¿ how to do the right thing -- David seedhouse -- Mental health nursing -- A the legal perspective -- Leon mcrae -- B an ethical perspective ¿ compulsion and autonomy -- Harry lesser -- The critically ill patient -- A the legal perspective -- Jo samanta -- B an ethical perspective -- Robert campbell -- Clinical governance -- A the legal perspective -- Vanessa l. mayatt -- B an ethical perspective -- Lucy frith -- Clinical research and patients -- A the legal perspective -- Marie fox and natasha hammond-browning -- B an ethical perspective ¿ nursing research -- Richard ashcroft -- The elderly -- A older people and nursing care -- Jonathan herring -- B person-centred care, personal identity and the interests of people with dementia -- Michael dunn.